Principals Chosen for 2 Troubled Brooklyn High Schools

Trying to get its school turnaround effort back on track, the New York City Education Department moved on Monday to fill principal vacancies at two of the city’s lowest-performing high schools, Boys and Girls High School and Automotive High School, both in Brooklyn.

The department named Grecian Harrison, currently an assistant principal at Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School in the Bronx, as interim acting principal at Boys and Girls. She replaces Michael Wiltshire, who ran Boys and Girls from October 2014 through July 1, as a so-called master principal, while continuing to lead his previous school, Medgar Evers College Preparatory School. The arrangement proved controversial, and Dr. Wiltshire ultimately stepped down to return full time to Medgar Evers.

Ms. Harrison will be the interim acting principal of Boys and Girls until the school conducts its formal appointment process, which involves convening a committee of parents, teachers and other staff members to interview her and other candidates.

Some staff members, parents and alumni at Boys and Girls had pushed for a different candidate, Allison M. Farrington, the current principal of Research and Service High School, a transfer school in the same building.

“We need to have someone at this stage of the game that we trust,” said Stanley Kinard, the school’s community associate. “This makes no sense whatsoever, that they’re going to totally disregard and ignore all the sentiments of our school community.’’

A spokeswoman for the Education Department said the superintendent who oversaw Boys and Girls had met with parents, staff and alumni, and would continue to talk with them.

At Automotive, the department is trying the same strategy that produced mixed results at Boys and Girls, naming Kevin Bryant as its master principal. He is currently the principal of Frances Perkins Academy, a tiny school that shares a building with Automotive. He replaces Caterina Lafergola, who resigned on July 1, because of conflicts with the teachers union, she said.

The department said Mr. Bryant would take on day-to-day principal responsibilities at Automotive while continuing to “support instruction and practice” at Frances Perkins, where there will also be an acting principal. Mr. Bryant will be paid $25,000 in addition to his current salary of $145,748, the department said. The arrangement is only for one year but can be renewed.

In 2014, the State Education Department classified both Boys and Girls and Automotive as “out of time” because of their low performances, and all of the teachers there were required to reapply for their jobs. The schools have also received coaching for teachers and additional funding for social services, as part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $400 million Renewal Schools initiative to revive the city’s struggling schools.

It is not clear whether the extra resources have made a difference. Automotive’s graduation rate declined in 2015, to 45.9 percent from 49.3 percent. At Boys and Girls, the graduation rate increased, from 41.9 to 50 percent. However, Dr. Wiltshire encouraged many students at Boys and Girls who were unlikely to graduate on time to switch to other schools or programs, which may have contributed to the increase.

Enrollment at Boys and Girls declined to 334 in this past school year, from 648 students in the previous school year. It is projected to have only 269 students next year.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A22 of the New York edition with the headline: Principals Chosen for 2 Troubled Brooklyn High Schools. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe